Port of Seattle Fraud Report Issued

After ten months and $1.39 million, former U.S. Attorney Mike McKay issued his report on ten instances of fraud that he discovered at the Port of Seattle.

The report follows a scathing performance audit of the Port of Seattle's contracting practices issued almost a year ago.

McKay found that one Port employee leaked the Port's internal cost estimate to a contractor who later bid on the third runway project and ended up making a 30% profit on the project. Other findings of fraud included:

• Negotiating price with a contractor prior to award
• Breaking projects into smaller projects to avoid competitive bidding thresholds
• Not notifying certain contractors of bidding opportunities
• Steering contracts to favorite contractors
• Issuing an emergency contract for $25,000 that was later amended to more than $1 million for non-emergency work

The complete 76 page fraud report, issued on December 3, 2008, may be found by clicking here. An executive summary of the report may be found by clicking here.

You can also read the December 4, 2008 Seattle Times article on the subject.